The Patriarchal Literary Prize named after Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius was awarded at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill announced the names of the winners. These are writers Viktor Likhonosov, Boris Sporov and Archpriest Yaroslav (Shipov).
His Holiness began the ceremony with a polemic: “Russian literature is dead? Where do such thoughts come from? There are talented people in any era, the question is how to reveal new Pushkins, Gogols and Dostoevskys to the world.” According to the Patriarch, the literary process is formed in a certain cultural environment. “Today literature does not dominate the information flow and it is difficult to discern talent,” the primate believes. “Gadgets, the Internet, and the acceleration of life have an adverse effect on thoughtful reading.” The head of the Russian Orthodox Church hopes that one of the “optical instruments that will teach one to see talent” will be the Patriarchal Literary Prize.
Boris Sporov writes about the hungry and restless childhood of his peers in his book “Children of War.” Against the backdrop of besieged Leningrad, the plot of nominee Irina Bogdanova’s novel “The Measure of Being” unfolds. The hero of Archpriest Yaroslav (Shipov's) story "Oatmeal Cookies" is a front-line priest who took part in the Battle of Stalingrad.
The criteria for awarding the prize are the high artistic level of the works and the transmission of moral values. It is awarded only to experienced writers. And by secret ballot. The jury is located in the first row of the Hall of Church Councils. Ballots are collected in a transparent ballot box. They are counted instantly. The Patriarch immediately rewards the winners.
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The list of nominees for 2017 included Irina Bogdanova, Dmitry Volodikhin, Vasily Dvortsov, Viktor Likhonosov, Hieromonk Roman (Matyushin-Pravdin), Boris Sporov, Alexander Tkachenko, Archpriest Yaroslav Shipov.
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The Patriarchal Literary Prize named after Saints Cyril and Methodius, Equal-to-the-Apostles, has been awarded since 2011. Its laureates were writers Vladimir Krupin, Viktor Nikolaev, Alexey Varlamov, Yuri Bondarev, Yuri Kublanovsky, Boris Ekimov and other modern authors.
Quote from the story "Oatmeal Cookies"
“Father Archimandrite did not like to talk about the war:
What is there to tell? We advance, we retreat, we dig in. We're attacking again. This one was killed, this one was wounded. This one was buried, this one went to the hospital. Someone else was killed and I was wounded. He was buried, I was taken to the hospital. We healed - again: we advance, retreat, dig in. War is an uninteresting matter,” and he smiled.”
On May 11, 2017, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' led the solemn ceremony of electing and awarding the laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize named after Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius.
Your Eminences and Graces! Dear fathers, brothers and sisters! Ladies and Gentlemen!
Christ is Risen!
I warmly greet you all. We have gathered in this hall to elect for the seventh time the laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize named after Saints Cyril and Methodius. And I am sure that today, as in past years, truly worthy authors will become new laureates.
According to established tradition, I would like to preface the ceremony with some thoughts about the fate of Russian literature.
Once I had the opportunity to read an article in a well-known foreign publication devoted to the current state of Russian literature. The article was published under a very bright and provocative title: “Is Russian literature dead?” I will not retell the contents of this article - I think the essence is clear from the title. The author’s main message was that Russian writers allegedly “shredded”, the last great works were written several decades ago, and the authority and influence of Russian literature on the minds of contemporaries is no longer what it used to be.
Let's leave aside the fact that the article was published in a foreign weekly. Unfortunately, one encounters similar pessimistic views among representatives of the domestic intelligentsia. At such moments, I always want to ask my interlocutor: “Where do such thoughts even come from? Did writers of the 19th or 20th centuries really have better conditions for creativity or more food for thought than today?”
Talented people are born and live in any era. The question is not at all that we do not have new Pushkins, Dostoevskys, Chekhovs, Pasternaks. We have them. The question is how to reveal these writers to the world, how to make their work the property of the whole society.
To explain my thoughts, I would like to make a short excursion into history, to the 30s of the XIX century. The well-known censor at that time, Alexander Krasovsky, speaking about contemporary literature, once called it disgusting. Probably, his judgment would not have been so interesting if not for the fact that Krasovsky lived in an era that would later be called the golden age of Russian culture.
So, you ask, was the critic ignorant? No! Krasovsky was an educated, well-read man, he knew several foreign languages. What prevented him from seeing Pushkin or Gogol? What was the reason for such blindness, which did not allow us to see brilliant writers among our contemporaries? Perhaps insensitivity, inattention to the artistic word?
It's no secret that Pushkin's later, more mature works, which we admire today, were greeted by many of his contemporaries very coolly and even with misunderstanding. There were also those who wrote about the general crisis of literature and the decline of Pushkin’s talent. And even “Boris Godunov,” written earlier, was not immediately accepted and understood by readers.
So what, after all, most determines the ability to see? Maybe a look from some historical distance? This question is not rhetorical; it requires serious thought. It is important to understand that the literary process is not one, not two, or even three names. This is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon. The literary process is formed in a certain cultural environment and through the efforts of not two or three outstanding people, but the entire writing community. Just as a fertile layer of soil contributes to the rapid growth and successful development of plants, so a healthy and properly organized literary process contributes to the emergence of new geniuses and beautiful works of art.
The Lord does not leave any time without talented people, without real writers and poets. Let me emphasize once again: there are talented authors in any era, and our time is no exception. It is important not to overlook these talents. Contemporaries, especially the writing community, editors, publishers, should try to notice talents, support them, especially at the beginning of their journey, give them the opportunity to publish, and tell readers about them.
Today, aspiring authors have to face considerable difficulties when publishing their works. Many publishing houses simply refuse to allow authors to publish their works, citing the current laws of the market, which require, first of all, what will sell successfully and what will make a profit. The sad tendency to make money from literature, unfortunately, often leads to the fact that most publishers are not interested in the actual artistic quality of the work, but in how similar it is to one of the box-office novels in order to continue that line of bestsellers.
Such market filters become a big obstacle for original and truly talented authors. And those who are able to influence the cultural environment and who have some leverage, including the publishing process, are called upon to overcome these obstacles. I am deeply convinced that a special role should be played by editors and publishers, that is, people on whom the publication of certain authors depends.
I hope that the Patriarchal Literary Prize will also make a significant contribution to the discovery of new names, in support of gifted masters of words. This support is extremely important for writers and poets. Do we realize how many authors we don’t know only because there was no one next to them who was sincerely interested in their work and helped them reach the reader? Do we realize how many talented people are no longer published, precisely because there were those nearby who did not have an impeccable sense of language, were not very well versed in literature, but at the same time considered it possible to give negative reviews. Other examples can be given: more than once talented writers and poets found themselves unable to appreciate the works of their contemporaries. How many texts were lost because they were not printed on time?
In general, this is a very serious topic - the ability to see, understand, feel, and much here also depends on how the public consciousness is oriented. If in the 19th and 20th centuries (at least in the first half of the 20th century) literature was an important source of food for thought, today literature occupies only a part, and far from a dominant one, in the increasingly powerful information flow. It is becoming increasingly difficult to discern a talented author in a huge array of information. In addition, the attention of the vast majority of people today is focused on electronic media. The general acceleration of the pace of life is another factor that adversely affects reading in general and the ability to identify outstanding authors. There is no time to read a book from beginning to end, but in order to understand the author’s intention, to feel the beauty of the style, you need to not only read, but also reflect on the book!
So the point, of course, is not only in publishers and editors, but also in how much the general cultural context contributes to the orientation of mass consciousness towards the sphere of fiction. And we all need to think carefully about what should be done to ensure that fiction regains its position, so that people read not only light, action-packed books, but also texts created by masters of words containing deep thoughts.
The wonderful Russian poet Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky was able to accurately assess the scale of Pushkin’s gift when he was still very young. I quote: “For everything that happened to you and that you brought upon yourself, I have one answer: poetry. You do not have talent, but genius... By virtue of the authority given to me, I offer you first place at the Russian Parnassus. And what a place if you combine the loftiness of genius with the loftiness of purpose!” Probably, only a person who had not only literary talent, high professional qualifications, but also very strong eyesight, capable of distinguishing spirits (see 1 Cor. 12:10) could penetrate into the poet’s talent in this way. So the question arises: can a person living in our fast-moving, bustling time have such vision, or is modern man completely deprived of the opportunity to see the essence of things, to be able to find talents and support them? I don't think there is a simple answer to this question. But we live in the era that God has assigned to us, and our task is to create tools that enhance our spiritual vision and give us the opportunity to find talents, feed on their thoughts and the beauty of the style.
As you know, in the future Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky tried to defend Pushkin, and who knows how the poet’s human and literary life would have developed if not for Zhukovsky’s help. And today it is important for us to learn to be attentive, to learn to see talented contemporaries and to help, in whatever way we can, the people whom God has gifted. Then our literature will be enriched with new names and wonderful works of art. God grant that the Patriarchal Prize named after Saints Cyril and Methodius, Equal-to-the-Apostles, may serve as a modest, but quite effective tool that would help not only specialists identify talented authors, but also the general reader to get acquainted with the work of their remarkable contemporaries.
Thank you for your attention.
Press service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'
On May 11, 2017, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' held a solemn ceremony for electing and awarding the laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize named after Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius.
Your Eminences and Graces! Dear fathers, brothers and sisters! Ladies and Gentlemen!
Christ is Risen!
I warmly greet you all. We have gathered in this hall to elect for the seventh time the laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize named after Saints Cyril and Methodius. And I am sure that today, as in past years, truly worthy authors will become new laureates.
According to established tradition, I would like to preface the ceremony with some thoughts about the fate of Russian literature.
Once I had the opportunity to read an article in a well-known foreign publication devoted to the current state of Russian literature. The article was published under a very bright and provocative title: “Is Russian literature dead?” I will not retell the contents of this article - I think the essence is clear from the title. The author’s main message was that Russian writers allegedly “shredded”, the last great works were written several decades ago, and the authority and influence of Russian literature on the minds of contemporaries is no longer what it used to be.
Let's leave aside the fact that the article was published in a foreign weekly. Unfortunately, one encounters similar pessimistic views among representatives of the domestic intelligentsia. At such moments, I always want to ask my interlocutor: “Where do such thoughts even come from? Did writers of the 19th or 20th centuries really have better conditions for creativity or more food for thought than today?”
Talented people are born and live in any era. The question is not at all that we do not have new Pushkins, Dostoevskys, Chekhovs, Pasternaks. We have them. The question is how to reveal these writers to the world, how to make their work the property of the whole society.
To explain my thoughts, I would like to make a short excursion into history, to the 30s of the XIX century. The well-known censor at that time, Alexander Krasovsky, speaking about contemporary literature, once called it disgusting. Probably, his judgment would not have been so interesting if not for the fact that Krasovsky lived in an era that would later be called the golden age of Russian culture.
So, you ask, was the critic ignorant? No! Krasovsky was an educated, well-read man, he knew several foreign languages. What prevented him from seeing Pushkin or Gogol? What was the reason for such blindness, which did not allow us to see brilliant writers among our contemporaries? Perhaps insensitivity, inattention to the artistic word?
It's no secret that Pushkin's later, more mature works, which we admire today, were greeted by many of his contemporaries very coolly and even with misunderstanding. There were also those who wrote about the general crisis of literature and the decline of Pushkin’s talent. And even “Boris Godunov,” written earlier, was not immediately accepted and understood by readers.
So what, after all, most determines the ability to see? Maybe a look from some historical distance? This question is not rhetorical; it requires serious thought. It is important to understand that the literary process is not one, not two, or even three names. This is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon. The literary process is formed in a certain cultural environment and through the efforts of not two or three outstanding people, but the entire writing community. Just as a fertile layer of soil contributes to the rapid growth and successful development of plants, so a healthy and properly organized literary process contributes to the emergence of new geniuses and beautiful works of art.
The Lord does not leave any time without talented people, without real writers and poets. Let me emphasize once again: there are talented authors in any era, and our time is no exception. It is important not to overlook these talents. Contemporaries, especially the writing community, editors, publishers, should try to notice talents, support them, especially at the beginning of their journey, give them the opportunity to publish, and tell readers about them.
Today, aspiring authors have to face considerable difficulties when publishing their works. Many publishing houses simply refuse to allow authors to publish their works, citing the current laws of the market, which require, first of all, what will sell successfully and what will make a profit. The sad tendency to make money from literature, unfortunately, often leads to the fact that most publishers are not interested in the actual artistic quality of the work, but in how similar it is to one of the box-office novels in order to continue that line of bestsellers.
Such market filters become a big obstacle for original and truly talented authors. And those who are able to influence the cultural environment and who have some leverage, including the publishing process, are called upon to overcome these obstacles. I am deeply convinced that a special role should be played by editors and publishers, that is, people on whom the publication of certain authors depends.
I hope that the Patriarchal Literary Prize will also make a significant contribution to the discovery of new names, in support of gifted masters of words. This support is extremely important for writers and poets. Do we realize how many authors we don’t know only because there was no one next to them who was sincerely interested in their work and helped them reach the reader? Do we realize how many talented people are no longer published, precisely because there were those nearby who did not have an impeccable sense of language, were not very well versed in literature, but at the same time considered it possible to give negative reviews. Other examples can be given: more than once talented writers and poets found themselves unable to appreciate the works of their contemporaries. How many texts were lost because they were not printed on time?
In general, this is a very serious topic - the ability to see, understand, feel, and much here also depends on how the public consciousness is oriented. If in the 19th and 20th centuries (at least in the first half of the 20th century) literature was an important source of food for thought, today literature occupies only a part, and far from a dominant one, in the increasingly powerful information flow. It is becoming increasingly difficult to discern a talented author in a huge array of information. In addition, the attention of the vast majority of people today is focused on electronic media. The general acceleration of the pace of life is another factor that adversely affects reading in general and the ability to identify outstanding authors. There is no time to read a book from beginning to end, but in order to understand the author’s intention, to feel the beauty of the style, you need to not only read, but also reflect on the book!
So the point, of course, is not only in publishers and editors, but also in how much the general cultural context contributes to the orientation of mass consciousness towards the sphere of fiction. And we all need to think carefully about what should be done to ensure that fiction regains its position, so that people read not only light, action-packed books, but also texts created by masters of words containing deep thoughts.
The wonderful Russian poet Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky was able to accurately assess the scale of Pushkin’s gift when he was still very young. I quote: “For everything that happened to you and that you brought upon yourself, I have one answer: poetry. You do not have talent, but genius... By virtue of the authority given to me, I offer you first place at the Russian Parnassus. And what place if with the height of genius connect and lofty goal! Probably, only a person who had not only literary talent, high professional qualifications, but also very strong eyesight, capable of distinguishing spirits (see 1 Cor. 12:10) could penetrate into the poet’s talent in this way. So the question arises: can a person living in our fast-moving, bustling time have such vision, or is modern man completely deprived of the opportunity to see the essence of things, to be able to find talents and support them? I don't think there is a simple answer to this question. But we live in the era that God has assigned to us, and our task is to create tools that enhance our spiritual vision and give us the opportunity to find talents, feed on their thoughts and the beauty of the style.
As you know, in the future Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky tried to defend Pushkin, and who knows how the poet’s human and literary life would have developed if not for Zhukovsky’s help. And today it is important for us to learn to be attentive, to learn to see talented contemporaries and to help, in whatever way we can, the people whom God has gifted. Then our literature will be enriched with new names and wonderful works of art. God grant that the Patriarchal Prize named after Saints Cyril and Methodius, Equal-to-the-Apostles, may serve as a modest, but quite effective tool that would help not only specialists identify talented authors, but also the general reader to get acquainted with the work of their remarkable contemporaries.
Thank you for your attention.
Press service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'
On May 11, 2017, in the Hall of Church Councils of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' led the seventh ceremony of electing and awarding laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize named after Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius.
Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church were present at the ceremony: the Administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate; Chairman of the Russian Orthodox Church; first vicar of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' for Moscow; ; viceroy; Chairman of the Publishing Council; ; Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate; Chief Editor ; Deputy Administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate; employees of the Publishing Council, the Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate and other synodal institutions, clergy and monastics.
The event was also attended by members of the House of Trustees of the Patriarchal Literary Prize, Russian literary scholars, journalists, representatives of government and public organizations, and cultural figures.
Applications for the Patriarchal Literary Prize are accepted on September 14, 2016. During the seventh award season, 50 applications were received from various regions of Russia, as well as from Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Latvia. March 28 this year at a meeting of the House of Trustees of the Patriarchal Literary Prize, a short list of nominees for 2017, which included:
- Irina Anatolyevna Bogdanova;
- Dmitry Mikhailovich Volodikhin;
- Vasily Vladimirovich Dvortsov;
- Viktor Ivanovich Likhonosov;
- Boris Fedorovich Sporov;
- Alexander Borisovich Tkachenko;
- Archpriest Yaroslav Shipov.
- Bishop of Molodechno and Stolbtsovsky Pavel, Chairman of the Publishing Council of the Belarusian Exarchate;
- Yu.M. Loschits, writer, publicist and literary critic, laureate of the Patriarchal Literary Prize;
- K.P. Kovalev-Sluchevsky, professor at the Institute of Journalism and Literary Creativity, writer.
Then the election of the laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize took place: members of the House of Trustees filled out voting ballots. The ballots were transferred to the Counting Commission. Members of the Counting Commission counted the votes, filled out the protocol and handed it over to His Holiness the Patriarch.
His Holiness the Patriarch presented the laureates with a diploma and badges of the Patriarchal Literary Prize.
All the 2017 award nominees were also invited to the stage - I.A. Bogdanova, D.M. Volodikhin, V.V. Dvortsov, A.B. Tkachenko, to whom the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church presented honorary diplomas.
The choir of the Otrada orphanage at the Nikolsky Chernoostrovsky Monastery in Maloyaroslavets, Kaluga Region, took part in the musical accompaniment of the ceremony.
At the end of the evening there was a concert.
The Patriarchal Literary Prize was established by the Holy Synod on December 25, 2009 () with the aim of encouraging writers who have made a significant contribution to the establishment of spiritual and moral values in the life of modern man, family and society, who have created highly artistic works that have enriched Russian literature. This prize has no analogues in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church and other Local Orthodox Churches.
The first laureate of the Patriarchal Literary Prize in 2011 was the writer Vladimir Krupin. In the second award season (2012), the winners were Olesya Nikolaeva and Viktor Nikolaev. In 2013, awards were given to Alexey Varlamov, Yuri Loshchits and Stanislav Kunyaev. In the fourth award season (2014), the laureates were Archpriest Nikolai Agafonov, Valentin Kurbatov and Valery Ganichev. In 2015, the prize was awarded to Yuri Bondarev, Yuri Kublanovsky and Alexander Segen, in
